"Vibraphonist Cal Tjader released six well-received albums on Conord. The Best of the Concord Years draws from that storehouse to fill two discs with choice cuts. The arrangements and overall flavor flow easily from composition to composition. There's the sparkling arrangement of "Speak Softly," featuring Roger Glenn's atmospheric flute work, which is perfectly matched to Tjader's light touch on the vibes. There are also surprises like the Latin take on Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing," with a fine vocal by Carmen McRae, and an extra mellow take on John Coltrane's "Naima." Pianist-composer Mark Levine provides both rhythmically intense chording for a piece like "Shoshana" and the gentlest of leads on "Naima," while steady hands like bassist Rob Fisher and percussionist Poncho Sanchez lay down the rhythmic underpinning so essential to Latin jazz." (Allmusic).
"In the late '50s, Cal Tjader and his bands played lengthy engagements at the Black Hawk jazz club in San Francisco. This CD combines almost everything from two albums he recorded there: the entirety of "A Night At The Blackhawk", and all songs save one from "Live And Direct". This is on the mellow side for Tjader, even by the vibraphonist's standards; if "A Night At The Blackhawk" is low-energy, "Live And Direct" is positively sleepy. "A Night At The Blackhawk" employs an all-star sextet incl. Mongo Santamaria on congas, and Vince Guaraldi on piano. It's only in the Latin-Afro-Cuban mood about half the time. That's heard on the mambo version of "Stompin' at the Savoy," "I Love Paris," and Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," the last of which is of course a natural for the Latin-jazz treatment. Although "Live And Direct" was billed to the Cal Tjader Quintet, it in fact usually features just a quartet of Tjader, Lonnie Hewitt (p), Victor Venegas (b), and Willie Bobo (d)." (Richie Unterberger, Allmusic)
"This set brings together 2 outstanding albums from late in Cal Tjader's career. The first, "A Fuego Vivo", comes from a 1981 concert at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. One thing apparent right away is that Tjader is generous in featuring his sidemen, in addition to adding a few hot solos of his own. "Poncho Con Dos Amigos" is an exciting extended feature for conga great Poncho Sanchez, whose own career as a leader took off not long after Tjader's passing. The leader's exotic "Mindinao," and multi-reed player Gary Foster's lovely ballad "Tesoro," are also memorable. The second album, "Good Vibes", that was released two years after Tjader's death, kicks off with a crowd-pleasing take of Dizzy Gillespie's "Guachi Guaro (Soul Sauce)," showcasing bassist Rob Fisher, drummer Vince Lateano, and Foster (on soprano sax). Pianist Mark Levine, who is present on both dates, composed the smoking salsa "Shoshana," a piece that would get any crowd on its feet and dancing." (Ken Dryden, Allmusic)
"Spectaculaire opnamen uit 1958 (en niet 1963, zoals de inlay beweert!). Getz nam ook enkele nog onbekende leden van z'n eigen band mee: Scott LaFaro (b) en Billy Higgins (d). Ook met puntig spel van Vince Guaraldi (p)." (CdJ,Jzz) En die opnamen klinken nog indrukwekkender op SACD, ook al is die alleen twee-kanaals.
Vibrafonist/bandleider die een invloedrijke naam op het gebied van latinjazz is, maar zich niet alleen beperkt tot dat genre. Ook dit album, uit 1966, bevat naast latinjazzclassics als 'Manteca' andere uitstapjes. Met o.a. Chick Corea (p).
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